DUBAI // A 19-year-old Austrian woman accused of smuggling and possessing an anti-epileptic drug was sentenced to a year in jail.
The woman denied the charges in Dubai Criminal Court last August, saying she was prescribed the drug as medication.
Prosecutors told the court that on May 12 the defendant was arrested at Dubai International Airport with 2,939 capsules of Lyrica, a brand name for pregabalin.
“It was spotted during the X-ray scan of the passenger’s luggage,” said an Emirati customs inspector, according to court records.
The inspector added that when she asked the defendant whether she possessed anything illegal, the suspect denied it, saying she only carried prescribed medicine.
The passenger was referred to the criminal lab for a drug consumption examination, the results of which were negative. She will be deported after serving her sentence.
salamir@thenational.ae
